Optical Drives News (51)

ASUS unveiled a very fast, sleek and sexy-looking external Blu-ray writer recently. The Blu-ray writer comes equipped with USB 3.0 which currently offers the fastest Blu-ray writing speeds in the world! The ASUS 12X Blu-ray writer is capable of writing many disk formats ranging from the old CD-R (40X) all the way to single (12X) and dual (8X) layer Blu-ray disk formats. This sleek and sexy ASUS 12X external Blu-ray writer also comes equipped with a 4MB data buffer and is capable of being mounted horizontally or vertically. The device will offer 1080p video output and real-time 2D to 3D conversion. Sadly, there has yet to be any announcements on the pricing or availability of this device.

TDK has announced its incredibly large optical disc with up to one terabyte of storage. The disc is split into 16 layers, each having 32GB of data per layer and each of the sides having this massive data capacity. This is even more impressive by the fact that it's seven gigabytes more per layer than Pioneer's ex-revolutionary 500GB optical disc in that far away time called 2008. Fortunately, we may see this appear in commercial use since this disc is made of the same material as current Blu-ray discs and uses the same beam aperture. Although, the ability for this disc to be used commercially anytime soon will be dependent on the disc manufacturers to produce this 260µm per layer megalith. That layer size is twice as thick as the current BD standard. Well, let's all hope this comes to fruition soon though I'd prefer having a 5TB hard drive or, since I'm using my imagination with this, a 5TB SSD.

Hitachi and LG have teamed up before to release a hybrid optical drive and now the two companies are set to launch the second generation of the device. Hitachi-LG Data Storage is a joint venture between the two that seeks to merge an optical disk drive with flash storage, thus creating an optical drive that can also function as a solid state drive. The second generation of the Hybrid Drive uses Micron's 25nm NAND flash memory in a capacity of 16, 32, or 64GB and pairs it with a DVD or Blu-ray player. The optical drive is ideal for laptops who only have one slot for a drive since now you can expand the storage capacity, albeit in a small way. The storage space is expected to increase in later versions so it will be interesting to see exactly how big it can go. The first generation drives went for nearly $200 so hopefully the second generation can lower that price, but no mention was made if the drive would be able to be bought separately or just in a laptop.

The long-awaited downloadable content for Modern Warfare 2 was released yesterday, and for some the experience was less than stellar. According to Microsoft there were two releases yesterday - one involving new maps for the game and the other was an update to the game. According to Microsoft, the DLC was released ahead of the title update but the new content doesn't function properly without the title update. Once the two pieces were released out of order it was a giant mess resulting in the problems reported here. To top it all off, the popularity of the download also resulted in some billing issues as well. According to Microsoft users just need to hang tight and try again later.

For the most part, ASUS dominates the netbook market mainly, and has seen the beginning of the netbook generation. Other manufacturers such as MSI, Gateway, and even SAMSUNG have releases multiple products to try to get the attention of consumers. Gateway has just unveiled a new netbook that will be available soon, and though is a bit thicker than the usual netbooks, features an optical drive. The new computer, known as the EC14D, includes 4GB of RAM, an 8x DVD writer, an 11.6-inch LED screen, a multi-gesture touchpad, three USB ports, gigabit LAN, as well as a multiple format card reader. Also included in the $629.99 retail prices netbook is a webcam, HDMI and VGA outputs, 802.11n WiFi, GMA 4500MHD graphics, and an Intel SU4100 at 1.3GHz. Though not really a netbook in the size factor, it is interesting what Gateway has done with attempting to squeeze an optical drive in such a small package.

Toshiba, just about the last company standing in the HD format war from over a year ago, is finally waving the white flag. Near a year and a half after all four major movie studios signed on with Sony's Blu-Ray format, Toshiba has announced the it will be manufacturing and shipping stand alone Blu-Ray players, and Blu-Ray optical drives for PCs by the end of the year. Better late than never I guess, although it is never easy admitting that you were wrong.

Lite-On has released its newest sub-$70 Blu-ray drive, the iHOS104. The iHOS104 features read speeds of 4x for BD-ROM, BD-R and BD-RE discs, 8x for DVD-ROM discs and 32x for CD-ROM discs along with a 2MB buffer and SATA interface. Lite-On say the drive is targeted at consumers who want to experience high definition (HD) content at an affordable price. The iHOS104 is bundled with CyberLink'sTrueTheatreHD software and will retail for US$69.99. The drive is now available in the US with availability in Europe due next month.

Even though Blu-Ray is slowly making its way into being the mainstream standard media, Lite-On has recently made a DVD writer that supports a maximum write speed of 24X for DVD recodable media. Three models with this speed will be introduced; one without LightScribe capabilities and a SATA connection, as well as two that do support LightScribe and connect through SATA and PATA. The drive that connects through SATA and features LightScribe also will include a new technology, known as LabelTag, which lets users create a label around the ring on the data side of the recordable disc. All there drives will include SmartErase technology, which makes sure that data located on a burned disc is permanently inaccessible by any user. As of now, Lite-On has not discussed any pricing, but the drives will be able to be seen in the market for purchase sometime within the next month or two.

Sanyo Electric is touting its new blue-laser diode that is almost twice as powerful as the most powerful laser in today's Blu-ray systems. That increased power will translate into faster speeds and the ability to burn more data layers. The fastest Blu-ray disc systems today run at 6x speeds and can burn two data layers. With the more powerful laser that will increase to 12x speeds and four data layers. With 25GB per data layer, a four-layer disc can hold 100GB and would only take about 10 minutes to burn at 12x speeds. Don't expect to see systems with the new technology in stores anytime soon as the development lead time involved with creating new systems means there's a 1- 2-year lag.

Imation Corp. announced it has developed the first 6x blank double layer Blu-ray media. The new discs are capable transfer speeds of 216Mbit/sec. These discs will be marketed under its TDK brand and to customers wanted to archive data. The discs can write 25GB of data in 17 minutes which represents a 6 minute savings over previous 4x speeds. Like Blu-ray players though, the discs are still a little pricey with single layer discs retailing for $13.99 with dual layer versions coming in at $32.99.

Today's Blu-ray discs can store up to 50GB of data on two layers. Scientists from the University of California claim to be able to expand that to 1TB and beyond by employing multiple layers in a 3D arrangement with 200 layers of about 5GB each. The team contends that this can be extended to about 25GB per layer using 405nm diodes - the equivalent of a single BD layer - that could result in 5TB of data on a single disc. The new technique makes use of a material called polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) containing dye precursor molecules and light-reactive photoacid generator molecules that react to form a fluorescent dye when exposed to an ultraviolet light source. It is this dye that is then used to store the data. There's no word yet when this research can be turned into a commercially viable product though.

Pioneer is set to to present details on new 16-layer disc it claims will hold 25GB per layer at a trade symposium in Hawaii on July 13. That would give the read-only discs a total capacity of 400GB. The 25GB capacity per layer is consistent to what current Blu-ray devices achieve, Pioneer has not revealed what technology it is using. Sony has maintained that BD could reach to eight to ten layers, but as the number of layers scale up it becomes increasingly difficult to discern the signals as they weaken the signals from each layer. Pioneer claims to have overcome that obstacle with technology that reduces cross-talk between layers and reliably read the weaker signals.

This will now be the 3rd article that I have written about the possibility of Microsofts Xbox 360 console to utilize Blu-ray drives. I originally posted an article about Microsoft being in direct contact with Sony about using the medium and then I posted an article about Microsoft denying that they had ever talked with Sony. "Sources" now say (if that means anything by this point) that Lite-On is now developing BD-ROm drives for Microsofts console. The shipments of BD-ROM drives will begin in late 2008 and the "Sources" also say that a newer revision of the XBOX 360 will be produced with a 170W power supply opposed to the now 210W power supply which I'm assuming will be due to the BD-ROM drives lower power consumption.

Dell is the first manufacturer out of the gate to introduce a Blu-ray capable laptop for under $1,000. The Inspiron 1525 laptops, one of Dell's lower end models, will have the ability to add a Blu-ray drive starting today. Certain criteria must first be met however, the laptop must have a higher end processor to take advantage of the Blu-ray drive, no Celeron processors need apply. The base price with a Blu-ray drive installed is $879, to install a Blu-ray burner it will cost you an additional $200 bringing that price up to $1,079. This is still a far cry from Blu-ray going mainstream, but I believe its a step in the right direction.

Dailytech - With all the hype over Bluray don't you want a portable Bluray drive that you can connect to all your computers?
Well if that's your dream than you're in luck because a joint venture between Philips & Lite-On has released an external version of their DH-4O1S Bluray/DVD/CDRW drive. The unit itself is not much larger than an optical drive set on its side, which I'm sure is the point of most external drives. The unit is silver and black and has an acrylic stand, it looks quite classy. The unit reads Blu-ray Discs at 4X, DVD (single-layer) at 12X, DVD (dual-layer) at 8X, and regular CDs at 32x. The unit can connect to any computer with a USB 2.0 port.

When Warner Bros announced they would pull support for HD DVD and only publish titles in the Blu-ray format, many thought that settled the high-definition format question. In fact, some said the lifetime HD DVD format supported by Toshiba could now be measured in weeks if not days. Well, it looks as if Toshiba is not going down without a fight and said they are lowering prices on their HD DVD players. That move leaves an entry level unit at only $150. The highest end player would set you back about $400. In addition, Toshiba reaffirmed its commitment to their existing partners and vowed to increase its marketing efforts. Where does that leave the consumer? Mainstream consumers might be swayed by the lower prices only to find themselves stuck down the road with a format for which there are no titles (insert inevitable Betamax vs. VHS analogy here). Instead of a clearcut winner, it looks like the war will linger on for a bit longer.

Toshiba announced today it would realease a new line of notebooks in Japan with a rewritable HD DVD drive. The Qosmio Series 2 will be offered with either a 17- or 15.4-inch screen complete with built-in TV tuner. Other standard features are 2GB memory and either a 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7500 processor or a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7250 chip depending on the model and Windows Home Premium. No lightweights, the 17-inch model tips the scales at 10.6 pounds while the samller model weighs 7.7 pounds. With the bulit-in tuners, users will be able to record TV shows and video onto a DVD. Toshib is the major force behind the HD DVD format. The 17-inch model, called the Qosmio G40/97E, is expected to sell for about $3,500, while the 15.4-inch version, called the F40/88EBL, will be priced at about $2,600.

We finish up the week with a look around the web starting with the Thermal Paste Roundup 2007 from Madshrimps. Tech ARP has added the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB (G92) graphics card to its Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide Rev. 13.0. [H] has AMD's ATI Hybrid CrossFire Sneak Peek Exclusive where they get a look at new technology that allows users to combine a single Crossfire video card with one of ATI's new integrated graphics processors. Pretty cool stuff. FrostyTech reviews the Scythe Mugen SCINF-1000 Heatsink along with the Glacialtech Igloo 5710 Silent Heatsink. TweakTown also has an entry in the cooling department with a review of the ASUS Silent Knight II CPU Cooler. Bjorn3d has the Foxconn Mars motherboard along with the PowerColor HD 3850 Xtreme. We round out the reviews this morning with two products from Samsung. Bonafide Reviews evaluates the Samsung HP-T4264 42" Plasma HDTV and ExtremeMHz offers up a look at the Samsung SH-S203N LightScribe DVD Writer.

Daily Tech - Remember all that chatter about Microsoft teaming with Toshiba to produce an Xbox360 with a built-in HD DVD player? According to Toshiba, we shouldn't be holding our breath. A Toshiba representative has made it known that Toshiba has nothing to do with an integrated HD DVD drive, citing Microsoft's word that they would never integrate the drive for cust reasons. However, with Blu-ray outselling HD DVD, it is not inconceivable to think that Microsoft will at some point introduce a premium model with the HD DVD player built-in, seeing as though the hardware prices for HD DVD players are falling more rapidly than Blu-ray.

Daily Tech - The market is still in awe of the 50GB of data that a blu-ray disc can hold. Just like CDs and DVDs, one of the downsides to this next generation technology is the fact that current burners supporting this technology are very slow. At present, it takes a 2x BD-R burner 90 minutes to burn a full 50GB disc. Sony is pleased to announce a new Blu-ray burner for PCs that will cut the write time from previous generation burners in half, lowering a 50GB disc write down to 45 minutes. The player will also burn DVDs at 16x, and comes bundled with software that allows the user to capture, author, edit, and burn 1080i content captured from HDV camcorders.

The HD DVD Blu-Ray war took an interesting twist today as Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation announced they are settling on HD DVD exclusively for their new releases. Paramount had previously released titles in both formats but decided to move to HD DVD exclusively based on the decision that that format offered better quality and lower-priced players and reduced manufacturing costs. That means that you'll be only able to get "Blades of Glory", "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third" on HD DVD when they're released this fall.

"So far, most of the major Hollywood studios are selling Blu-Ray titles, and HD DVD sales have lagged. But some HD DVD supporters hope to broaden their appeal to consumers based on cost. The lowest-priced, stand-alone HD DVD player sells for $299, compared with $499 for the lowest-cost Blu-Ray option."

Engadget - Panasonic is set to join LG with the introduction of their own 4x speed BD-R recorder. However, while LG's GBW-H10N Blu-ray recorder burns are limited to single-layer media, Panny is boasting of a 4x burn to a dual-layer BD-R platter. That's 50GB in 46 minutes in case you're keeping track. No pictures or price but you can expect Panny to go big-and-fast with product sometime later this year.

Blu-ray Disc is getting another layer of content protection with the availability of BD Plus (BD+). The system, from BD+ Technologies LLC, is now complete and available to all Hollywood movie studios and content developers for implementation in Blu-ray Disc media.
Issued by BD+ Technologies are system specifications, key management rules, test specifications and various agreements. Also launched are a key issuing center, testing centers for players, and testing facilities for disc playability.

engadget - In a huge blow to Toshiba, Universal, and the rest of the HD DVD devotees, rental giant Blockbuster has decided to stock only Blu-ray discs in the vast majority of its nationwide locations, although HD DVD titles will continue to be offered online and in the 250 (out of 1,450) stores that have been testing both formats since last year. Blockbuster VP Matthew Smith revealed to the AP that the decision to go with Blu-ray -- which will reportedly be announced tomorrow -- stemmed from an overwhelming customer preference for those titles in the test markets, accounting for over 70% of all HD discs rented. Interestingly enough, it seems that content -- and not price -- was the deciding factor for consumers, with Blu-ray-only hits such as the Spiderman and Pirates of the Caribbean films apparently outmatching equivalent HD DVD exclusives. While it's still a little too soon to declare Blu-ray the outright winner, this Blockbuster decision only contributes to the momentum that Sony's darling has had of late -- momentum that at this point, might be too difficult for the other guys to counter.

engadget - Ah, the sweet aroma of competition in the air. That's what we've gotten a whiff of after catching an (admittedly grainy) shot of what appears to be an internal Blu-ray writing / HD DVD reading combo drive from Hitachi. The GGW-H20N should have no issues playing your favorite high-definition films on either format, and it can also burn 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray discs, BD-R, BD-RW, and the typical flavors of writable DVDs and CDs. Reportedly, the drive will also boast a speedy SATA interface and will posses a read rate of up to 6x and burn rate of 4x, but the most important detail was unsurprisingly omitted. Bring on the price drops.

Engadget - If you were wondering who's responsible for the super-slim burner that allows Toshiba's waifish Portege R500 sub-notebook to sport an optical drive in such a small enclosure -- and who wasn't, really? -- it seems that Akihabara News has solved this non-mystery by outing Panasonic's seven-millimeter thick DVD writer as the guilty party. At only 99 grams heavy as well, the unnamed spinner reportedly stomps all over the previous record holder for slimmest notebook drive, which measured a relatively-bloated 9.5 millimeters from top to bottom.

Engadget - Toshiba Qosmio fans have reason to celebrate with the unveiling of Tosh's skinny SD-L912A HD DVD-RW writer for laptops, a world's first to support rewritable HD DVD media. Unfortunately, we're only talking 1x read/write speeds here, or about 2 hours to fill a 30GB dual-layer disc -- but it's a start. The drives is also capable of writing to HD DVD-R DL and all the DVD and CDROM formats you can throw at it. The 12.7-mm thin drive will be shipping in sample quantities to OEMs in July as they spin up to production capacity in the months that follow.

Engadget - We can't deny feeling a little rush of excitement when we first learned that LG would be releasing an optical drive that could handle both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs -- like many fence-sitters, we see these combo units as an end run around the format war -- so obviously we were quite stoked to read ExtremeTech's initial thoughts on one of these devices (provided by HP in what was likely an upcoming Media Center). Bearing in mind that neither the review unit nor the drivers were finalized versions, it sounds like the GGW-H10N does indeed live up to its promise of reading nearly every disc format available as well as burning and Lightscribing Blu-ray media, DVDs, and CDs; however, Blu-ray write speeds were well below the claimed 2x in testing, and the lack of HD DVD-R/RW read support could prove to be a rather frequent annoyance unless it's rectified through a firmware update (or HD DVD pulls a Betamax).

Hexus - Pioneer now has available a burn-everything internal DVD writer with a Sata interface. The unit is offered in beige (DVR-212) or black (DVR-212BK) and being sold to consumers as well as system builders. Burn speeds are said to be 18x for write-once DVD-R and +R blanks, 10x for two DVD-R DL and +R DL and 12x for DVD-RAM. As you'd expect, the burner uses Pioneer’s Disc-Resonance Stabiliser technology to control the airflow generated by high-speed disc rotation and minimise disc warping.